Drifting with Someone New SYOC
by AgentZyiana
Summary: After an incident that left her in pain forever, Arianna Dark is now a Jaeger pilot for the PPDC. After an incident that ripped her apart, she was put under medical leave. Now, she meets someone new, and she has to Drift with them. Great. SYOC, Submit your own character. Forms inside, along with backstory and rules. Happy Submitting! SYOC OPEN
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, so I got bored while just laying in my hospital bed and constantly watching movies on my laptop, and this was the outcome. I've wanted to do a Pacific Rim story since it came out, but inspiration hasn't struck me until now. I'm pretty sure my regular readers are wondering about my other stories, so I'll give you a brief explanation. This first chapter of this story (and maybe the next two or three) was written on my iPhone, and I used my 4G to post it. The next chapters for my other stories were pre-written on my laptop, and I have no Wifi, no way of publishing them. I've tried to transfer the chapters to my phone, but have not succeeded the first three times, and I don't want to risk losing them. So, whenever I get released is when I will update those. I'm going to leave my Hunger Games SYOT on hiatus because I'm having difficulty maintaining all of them, and that one is one of the difficult ones. Quick update on me, I got my cast off my knee and got it put in a walking brace, but I still have to be on crutches (I HATE them). Anyway, enough about me and my problems. So, I will include two forms here, one for the possibility of being a main character along side mine, Arianna Dark, and the other being for a secondary character, and I will include the backstory, and the completely filled out form for my main character. I'm only accepting submission's through PM, if you're a Guest just create a free account or, sadly, I cannot accept your character.**

**Alrighty, so here is the form for the main character. Basically, I'm hoping for a character to kick ass and take names with my character, and I wanted it to be from one of you guys. The only issue is I want to consult with the person who sent in the character so the story can be incredible, so I would prefer having the person who sent in the chosen character be someone who is on at least twice a week (sorry if I'm being picky). Also, the more detailed your character is, the more likely they are to be chosen.**

**Basic info**

Name:

Gender:

Age:

Sexuality:

Religion:

Country of orign:

_Appearance_

Height:

Weight:

Hair style/length:

Hair color:

Eye color:

Skin color:

Race:

Scars/Markings(including freckles, tattoos, dimples, etc.):

**History**

Back Story/Pre PPDC:

Reason for joining Pan Pacific Defense Corps (PPDC):

**Personality/Relationships**

Personality (Overall):

How they act towards friends/family:

How the act towards military officials:

How they act towards strangers:

How they act towards people they dislike:

Family:

Friends:

Any enemies?:

**In PPDC**

Category (Jaeger pilot, technician, K-Science):

How they became a Jaeger pilot:

How did they meet Arianna?:

If they were a Jaeger pilot before piloting with Ari, what happened to them/their copilot/their jaeger?:

What is their look on the situation at hand (the Kaijus, the bomb run):

What is their opinion on the "Wall of Life" program:

**In the Jaeger**

What hemisphere do they pilot?:

What are their strengths?:

What are their weaknesses?:

What memories do they see in the Drift (at least three)?:

Do they ever go out of sync with Arianna (you don't have to answer this one, but I would like to know what you think about it)?:

How tight are your character and Arianna (again, you don't have to answer this one, because all pilots are eventually very close, but are they really tight when they first Drift, or are they loose and weak?)?:

**Relationship with Arianna**

How does your character feel when they first meet?:

Is your character apart of the candidate trials, or is an exception made from the Marshal?:

After the first Drift, are the feelings towards Arianna changed?:

After the first kill, how much closer do they become?:

Does your character develop any love feelings towards Arianna after they Drift?:

**Anything else you would like to add/Anything else I missed?:**

**So, now I will have the secondary characters. We're going to have four Jaegers. Fallen Angel is the name for Arianna's and the chosen second main protagonist, and it is the only Mark VI (6) Jaeger in the service, being a Mark IV before it was decommissioned. I would like you guys to submit ideas for names if your character is a Jaeger pilot. Once I have six secondary pilots, I'll put them in a list and you can tell me who you would like to be partnered with, or you can ask them directly. Anyway, have fun, this one is less detailed, but I want one Marshal, at least two, maximum of four, K-Science members, six Jaeger pilots, and maybe one or two tech workers, but those I can go without. If you would like to reserve a spot, you can PM me directly, but it's first come and first serve. I'm going to go ahead and say right now, I want 50% male and 50% female submissions. If I get way too many of one gender, I will no longer accept the submissions of the gender, even if it's a very good character.**

**Basic**

Name:

Gender:

Age:

Appearance:

Personality:

Country of origin:

**PPDC**

Category/Rank:

If Jaeger pilot, name of Jaeger:

If Jaeger pilot, how many kills do they have?:

If technician, Jaeger they work on:

Anything else surrounding PPDC:

**History/Relationships**

Back-story (pre PPDC):

Reason for joining PPDC:

Family:

Friends:

Enemies:

**Anything else?**

**So, now I'm going to include a backstory of my character and her filled out form, but some of the things won't be filled out because the question she can't answer. I hope you guys have a fun time submitting.**

**Basic info**

Name: Arianna Dark

Gender: Female

Age: 22

Sexuality: Straight

Religion: Atheist

Country of origin: She was born in Sweden, but moved to San Diego, California at the age of three

_Appearance_

Height: 5 feet, 11 inches

Weight: 115 LBS

Hair style/length: It's long and usually straight, but will slightly curl naturally. It reaches the middle of her upper arm and always gets in the way when she pilots the Jaeger, so they always have to deal with it when she gets suited up.

Hair color: It's dyed a bright, blood red color that sticks out and is meant to symbolize her cousin. It's naturally a dirty-blond color.

Eye color: Her left eye is a silvery-blue color, her right eye is amber and it looks to be gold.

Skin color: Tannish-pale.

Race: White.

Scars/Markings(including freckles, tattoos, dimples, etc.): She has Drive suit overload scars across her chest and right arm. She also has a glass cut-scar across her forehead from an incident in her childhood. She has a pair of tattooed wings almost covering her entire back.

**History**

Back Story/Pre PPDC: She was born with her twin sister, Anna, on December 25, 2003 in Stockholm, Sweden. When her parents couldn't afford one of them, they decided that it was unfair to put one of the identical twin sisters up for adoption and put them both up instead. Ari and Anna were adopted by an Australian couple who wanted children but realized Melissa, their adoptive mother, was infertile. When they adopted the two bundles of joy on a vacation to the countries capital, they also decided they would rather raise them in a different country than their home Australia, so they moved to San Diego California, where they raised the two twins. Arianna and Anna eventually began to compare how they looked to their parents. Melissa had light brown hair that was wavy and came down slightly past her shoulders with emerald green eyes and slightly thin lips. Jared, their adoptive father, had black hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. All of their friends would constantly be saying how the two blond-headed, grey eye, besides Ari's one amber eye, twins looked nothing like their mom and dad. On their 9th birthday in 2011, the parents decided that they would Skype with the actual parents, and Arianna and Anna finally knew who their real mother and father were.

It wasn't until August of 2013 that Arianna's life changed around drastically, despite being adopted. Her parents had to take her sister to San Francisco for a week because she was participating in an acting camp and they were using a special stage there. Arianna stayed at her friends house during that time, and on the third day, August 10th, she watched in horror with her friend's family as the Kajiu tore down the Golden Gate Bridge, and her parents and twin sister were apart of the tens of thousands lives lost that day. Her family was dead. Her real parents were across the country and unreachable because her real father was Sweden's UN Representative and was moved underground for his safety. She was all she had left.

Arianna was orphaned and stayed in the orphanage until she was sixteen, six years later. Then, she enlisted in the PPDC with her cousin, Kaiden Lenko. She was put through extensive combat training until she was eighteen, and that's when her and Kaiden discovered they were Drift Compatible. They then went started going through simulations together, and finally, they had their Jaeger, a Mark IV, Fallen Angel, ready for them to combat.

Reason for joining Pan Pacific Defense Corps (PPDC): As mentioned above, her family was killed. She had to avenge them and save millions more lives in the process. It was her one-way ticket to being a savior and getting out of that orphanage.

**Personality/Relationships**

Personality (Overall): Arianna is like the female Raleigh Becket and Mako Mori mixed into one. She is cocky and defies the rules all the time. But, she is also very kind and sweet, trying her best not to hurt anybody. Her families death has left a mental scar through her brain and almost made her go off the mental deep end, since she has ADD, ADHD, and a little bit of OCD. She's fun loving and always wants to have a goof time, and being in a Jaeger suits her.

How they act towards friends/family: Since Kaiden is the only family member she has left (for the time being), she treats him like he's her brother. Her older brother, that she loves and will always want to protect. When she's around her friends, she's always treating them with respect but still being cocky and sarcastic around them.

How the act towards military officials: Arianna is always respectful around military officials, treating them with respect whenever she gets the chance. She may sometimes not listen to their orders, but 90% of the time she does, and she carries them around her, since she's discovered that not following their orders results in a heavy, emotion burden she can never shake off her back.

How they act towards strangers: Generally, Arianna is kind. She wants to save these people's lives, not make them hate her.

How they act towards people they dislike: You will see a different side of Arianna around people she dislikes. She will do her best to avoid them, but when she's around them and they mess with her, she will turn into a ice cold bitch, spitting venom-filled words that she knows will sting when they hit them.

Family: Jared and Melissa Black (adoptive parents, deceased), Carl and Bethany Dark (birth parents), Anna Dark (twin sister, deceased), Kaiden Lenko (first-cousin, co-pilot, MIA).

Friends: N/A

Any enemies?: N/A

**In PPDC**

Category (Jaeger pilot, technician, K-Science): Jaeger Pilot.

How they became a Jaeger pilot: Discovered she was Drift Compatible with her cousin during combat training.

How did they meet Arianna?: N/A

If they were a Jaeger pilot before piloting with Ari, what happened to them/their copilot/their jaeger?: N/A

What is their look on the situation at hand (the Kaijus, the bomb run): Arianna personally doesn't believe that the bomb run will work without the proper scientific evidence. She knows the Kaijus keep coming and they need to be stopped before they start sending larger Kaijus to destroy the land.

What is their opinion on the "Wall of Life" program?: It won't work, not with the Breach spitting out stronger Kaijus in shorter amounts of time.

**In the Jaeger**

What hemisphere do they pilot?: N/A

What are their strengths?: N/A

What are their weaknesses?: N/A

What memories do they see in the Drift (at least three)?: N/A

Do they ever go out of sync with Arianna (you don't have to answer this one, but I would like to know what you think about it)?: N/A

How tight are your character and Arianna (again, you don't have to answer this one, because all pilots are eventually very close, but are they really tight when they first Drift, or are they loose and weak?)?: N/A

**Relationship with Arianna**

How does your character feel when they first meet?: N/A

Is your character apart of the candidate trials, or is an exception made from the Marshal?: N/A

After the first Drift, are the feelings towards Arianna changed?: N/A

After the first kill, how much closer do they become?: N/A

Does your character develop any love feelings towards Arianna after they Drift?: N/A

**Anything else you would like to add/Anything else I missed?: Nope.**

**So now I will include the backstory for Arianna, such as what happened to her partner so she can be piloting with your character. Hope you guys enjoy.**

I never meant for Kaiden to get hurt.

I never meant for Yancy to get hurt.

I never meant for _**any **_of this to happen.

It was a cold morning in Anchorage, Alaska when this shit-storm brewed and tore down everything I had once known. A Category III Kaiju, Knifehead, had decided it would trespass in our area, in our coastline. Stacker Pentecost, our Marshal at the time, had ordered Kaiden and I to get suited up bright an early to go take the Kaiju down. After heading to our Mark IV Jaeger and getting into our Conn-Pod rigs, me on the right side and Kaiden on the left, we discovered that the Beckets, Raleigh and Yancy, a brother duo in a Mark III Jaeger Gipsy Danger, was going to be running alongside us in the battle. It seemed stupid, sending two Jaegers to take out one Kaiju, but after the battle, I guess it was important.

Out on the Gulf, we moved a civilian vessel out of the way and battled this Kaiju. After lighting it up with our plasma cannons, we thought we killed it.

We were wrong.

Knifehead came out of the waters and attacked Gipsy. Took off the left arm, stabbed through the chest, and tore out the right side of the Conn-Pod.

Taking Yancy Becket to the grave.

Kaiden and I ordered Raleigh to abandon Gipsy. He did after a quick argument, jumping into the freezing waters and getting pulled onto the civilian vessel while Fallen Angel avenged Yancy and Gipsy's deaths. Knifehead took off Fallen Angel's right arm in its final stand, causing a Drive Suit Overload on both me and Kaiden. It also drove through the chest, just like on Gipsy. Just as we were about to take it down, it did the same thing.

"_It ripped through the hull!" I shouted at Kaiden as we both watched claws cutting wires on the left side of Fallen Angels Conn-Pod. It wouldn't be long before-_

_No… This happened to Yancy._

_Not Kaiden._

_He turned to me, his black hair tangled in his helmet as fear flashed across his face, burning deep into his dark eyes. He knew what was next. He knew that this would be his final stand._

_And yet, I didn't want it to happen. He was in my _mind. My mind. _He was _my _last family member alive and in contact. I couldn't let him go._

"_Ari, listen to me!" He shouted, pain flashing over his beautiful face that I would never forget. "You didn't-"_

_The connection between Fallen Angel and the two of us snapped like a wire as claws ripped through the Conn-Pod and ripped my last family member out, tossing him out of my reach. I was electrified from head to toe as the blinding weight of a Jaeger by itself was forced into my head. _This must have been why Raleigh was screaming even after his brother was gone, _I thought as a scream ripped through my body. I made a desperate effort to switch my hand-held controller to my left hand so I could finish this bastard off._

_I did._

_I blew his goddamn brains out, and the pain overtook me to the point where I almost blacked out. My visor on my helmet was blown out, my Drive Suit ripped apart, and my mind damaged forever._

_I scoped Raleigh up in Fallen Angel's hand and rolled his unconscious body into the Conn-Pod before turning and making my way back to the beach. How did I pilot that thing all by myself, I don't know._

_Once I hit the beach, I passed out in the Conn-Pod. Coming to about a minute later, I detached myself from the rig and dragged Raleigh behind me as I limped out onto the beach. An old man was there, asking me questions I couldn't hear over the ringing of my ears and the intense pounding of my head. I dropped Raleigh's arm and felt something hot and slick under my suit. Looking down, I saw red painted the white on the left side of my chest, pouring downward. I turned, walking in no specific direction. "Kaiden," I mumbled under my breath. "Kaiden."_

_That was when I collapsed next to Raleigh's unconscious body, and the last thing I saw was the old man bent over me, shouting at someone to do something._

Marshal Pentecost had me under medical watch for three years, making sure I was okay. He wouldn't let me go, like he did for Raleigh. Instead, he relocated me to Sydney, Australia, where I would be watched and kept in good care while they waged the war. _It's the only choice you have,_ I kept telling myself. I wish I could have talked to Raleigh once we were both healed. The only conversations we had were the ones at night where the both of us couldn't sleep and all we were thinking about was the way that Kaiden and Yancy had just been ripped from our minds, how we couldn't even say goodbye before the two most important people in our lives were ripped away from us in just the blink of an eye.

My last dream I had was two weeks ago. Kaiden was next to me at the mess hall table in Anchorage, laughing with the Becket brothers as we ate. I remember that exact memory, as it had actually happened. Kaiden threw an arm across my shoulders, his dog tags jingling under his shirt, and said to them, "I don't care what everyone else says, Ari and I are going to kick some major Kaiju ass!"

That night I woke up, clutching my own dog tags in memory. I had felt his arm there, I felt the phantom limb fading away, and tears streamed down my face because of how badly I missed him.

I wondered if Raleigh Becket ever got dreams of his brother like that. I'll never know, because I will probably never see him again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright, so I've only received a few submissions so far, and I'm still accepting nearly whenever, whenever I'm awake (I live in Australia at the moment, so if you live in the Eastern area of America, I'm sixteen hours ahead of you). The spots that are currently open are:**

**Marshal:**

**K-Science:**

**Jaeger pilots: 4 currently open**

**I'm still also accepting Mains, I've only received one of those so far, and if I don't receive any more within the next week, I will close submissions on that one and just use the character I have. Anyway, I also will not be able to submit the next chapter until I have a Marshal, a K-Science member, and at least two more secondary Jaeger pilots. I hope you guys enjoy the ride.**

I stood at the wall that served as a window, my arm pressed against the glass, my body leaning forward, and my forehead resting against the cool pane, feeling it suck the heat out of me. Sydney is such a beautiful city, filled with towering skyscrapers and an incredible view of the ocean. Still, Sydney was at just as much of a risk as any other Pan Pacific city, and it's right here on the ocean. These beautiful skyscrapers you see one minute will be crashing down is dust and killing thousands. Although there's that issue, and the population being a little too much to handle, I still enjoyed the view.

I've been grounded for two years now, five if you count the three years I was stuck switching from medical ward to medical ward across the world, every different scientist trying to figure out how I piloted Fallen Angel by myself. I've been nearly everywhere-across America, to the UK, France, Germany, Russia, China, and Japan-before finally being released from testing on the west side of Australia and sent here, where they provide me with hot food and showers and soft beds. The hot food I'm used to from the PPDC, the showers I would occasionally get if you woke up early enough for the hot water to not be used up. The soft beds were something my body and mind wasn't used to, they were a luxury you wouldn't get in the Shatterdome. The beds in the PPDC were firm, quite stiff if you got a new one. It's been quite the adjustment, even two years later and I'm still not used to it.

In the last two years, I've managed to establish a secure, untraceable underground comm link with my parents in Sweden. They informed me a year ago that the UN was cutting off the Jaeger program funds, putting the money towards the Wall of Life program. It's stupid, the funds need to stay with the Jaeger program, the one thing that's actually killing the Kaiju. I've seen what Kaijus can do, and if they can rip a steel Jaeger into shreds, a wall built up around the land, covering the ocean, will not stop a simple Category II Kaiju from destroying it and the people it's trying to protect.

I see the Wall from my window. On the coast, near the Sydney Opera House. I watched as small people, the size of ants, finished hammering their final pieces for the day, or sliding down their lines and reaching the bottom. The clouds shifted, causing the sun to gleam off the steel and blind my eyes. The waters were calm before I turned away. Those waters were never that calm. Something was up.

And something _was._ The glass tablet I had in my hands vibrated, alerting me I had a message. I turned the flat glass in my hands, watching as the screen lit up and warmed. I was expecting a message from my parents, but I was surprised to see an unknown number. After checking the area code, it was Alaskan. That could only mean one thing.

Raleigh Becket, who I had wanted to speak with for so long now, has somehow found my secret link, and contacted me.

I hesitated for a moment, trying to decide if I should actually open and read his message or now. Finally, as curiosity won over the best of me, and I clicked on the message, waiting as it loaded and sorted the number into a contact labeled _Raleigh Becket_.

_Arianna, its Raleigh. I've been meaning to contact you for a while now, and I finally got my hands on an electronic device to do so. I've been wondering if you've been feeling like you're missing something, like a piece of your mind is gone. I know it's not my place to be asking about that, especially since I know the pain of having the person who's mind has been to the darkest corners of yours, and vice versa. I just wanted to know-_

I was interrupted from my reading by an urgent and loud knock on the door. I tossed the tablet onto my unmade bed from my sleepless nights, watching as the screen faded into nothing. I plopped down into a comfortable chair, tightening my bright red ponytail before leaning back. "It's open!" I called to the knocker, relaxing into the comfortable leather. My accent has adopted into a light Australian one that wasn't natural.

The door handle twisted. "No it's not!" A familiar, rough Australian male's voice called back.

I leaned over, finding the coffee table and running my fingers along the underside, running over a small bump of a button. I press down, hearing the lock slide, knowing it's unlocked. My knocker heard it too, and he twisted the door handle again, stepping into my room.

The last person I had expected to see was there. Sergeant Hercules Hansen stood in my doorway, wearing a blue military suit with his hat tucked carefully under his arm. He saluted me before saying, "Ranger Dark."

"You're not supposed to call me that anymore, Herc," I said, crossing one of my legs over the other.

"I know, it's a bad habit. I usually don't visit grounded Rangers."

I sighed, rubbing my hand over my forehead before briefly glancing at my bed, wanting to get back to reading Raleigh's message. "Don't you have something better to be doing than speaking with my grounded ass?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yes, which is why you need to come with me."

"Why?"

"I'll explain on the way," Herc says, glancing over his shoulder. "We must leave. Now."

I sighed and stood up, reluctantly leaving the tablet and following Herc out of my room. I haven't left this area in two years, but now is no time to be roaming around the area. People jogged past us, bearing papers and tablets like mine alike. "It's been a long time, Arianna," he says, glancing at me.

"It certainly has, sir," I agree. The last time I saw Herc was when I was going through Ranger training with Kaiden and his son Chuck, he was an assistant instructor at the time.

I noticed how he was taking glances at me, but at one point, he took a longer one, precisely three seconds. "You look good, Dark, for someone who's been locked up for five years." He thinks of something to say as we continue. I follow him down a flight of stairs. "Maybe a little soft around the edges."

"Nothing I can't change," I say, trying to dodge the people around us. Some of them picked up the pace as the two of us fast-walked down the hall, making a sharp right.

I accidentally bumped into a young girl, no more that 21 years old. She dropped her papers and instantly went into an apology. I bent down and tried to scoop up her papers before Herc told me we needed to go.

As I jogged to catch up with him, I grabbed the inside of his elbow. "What's going on?" I asked him, slowing him enough to catch up. "Why is everyone in such a hurry?"

We come to a stop at an elevator, hitting the _Down _button. Herc sighs, running a hand along his face. I look at him now, see the light bags under his eyes, his unshaved, scruffy face. I know the feeling, I'm sleep deprived myself. It's those nights that I just can't sleep. I hate it, more than anything. The war that is increasing in difficulty every time a Kaiju strikes must be why he looks like he's barely holding himself up right.

"We've got a major situation," he says, leading me quickly into the elevator and hitting the button _B5 _before speaking again. "I need to get you underground and then get to the Sydney Shatterdome in the next fifteen minutes."

_Situation, underground, me, Sydney, Shatterdome, fifteen minutes._

The words jumble around my head, trying to make into a sentence. I swear, as we descend down the levels, I hear the shrill siren of a Kaiju siren. "There's a Kaiju strike?"

Herc nods, the elevator dinging and a female robotic voice saying "_Basement level: Five."_

We were deep underground, but he leads me to a plush room, much like my one upstairs, but with a TV instead of a window. It's set on the News, local News, how everyone is running around and trying to evacuate before the Kaiju strikes.

Herc quickly moves to the door. "I will be back once we run Striker Eureka one last time, kill the Category IV. You'll be fine, Arianna. Stay put." He shuts my door and is gone.

I look around the room. It's the same size as my room upstairs, has the same furniture. I sat down in a chair that looked like the one I had upstairs, turned it towards the TV, and waited, waited until the Kaiju was near.

In ten minutes, a Category IV Kaiju was ripping through the wall. I leaned forward, crossing my arms over my chest as I waited for Striker Eureka to come and take out the Kaiju. In less than an hour, the Kaiju had completely torn through the wall, and was advancing into the city. He was getting close to the building I was in, and Striker Eureka was nowhere to be seen.

We were five levels below the surface, but I could still hear the pounding footsteps of the Kaiju coming over us. The lights flicker, and people screamed as the building collapsed. I was expecting to see cracks in the ceiling, to look up and have structure raining down on us. But no, the room just slightly shook. After a minute in the darkness, I heard the hum of an emergency generator, and the lights came back on, the TV showing the feed as to why the footsteps intensified. Striker Eureka found the Kaiju, and they began fighting. Five levels underground could not muffle the sounds as Striker threw the beast into a building across the way, or slamming its fists into the Kaiju, or Striker's rockets barreling into the beast, killing it. The Kaiju fell, causing what felt like an Earthquake to rumble through the ground. A total of about fifteen buildings had gone down, including ours.

There was a post-battle interview on the street with Herc and Chuck. Herc just left, telling Chuck to handle the interview on his own. At first, I wondered why he was in such a hurry, there wasn't another Kaiju that needed to be killed, he didn't have to head back to the Shatterdome to make sure that there was nothing else coming. Why does he look like he's being rushed?

_Me, he's coming for me, _I thought.

_I'll be back once we run Striker one last time, _he had said to me. That's why he was in such a rush. Herc needed to get to me, because he saw the building I'm in go down. I had to get to him, to let him know I'm fine. Maybe then he won't be so worried.

I got up, throwing open my door and running out of my room. People called after me, telling me to stop, that I wasn't permitted to leave the building. I didn't care, I ran up the stairs, each level being more crowded with debris than the last. I get to the first basement level, and I get my cheek cut by falling rock. I press my hand to the bleeding wound, running towards the stairs. "Arianna!" I heard Herc shout. "Arianna, are you there?"

I bump into him, his Drive Suit armor bruising my shoulder as I collide with the hard metal. His hands are on my shoulders. "Are you okay?" He asks, breathless from running.

I nodded my head. "I'm fine, I'm fine," I said, trying to catch my breath with him from running up those steps. Herc brushes the loose strands of hair off my sweat-covered forehead, his gloved hand coming to rest at my cheek. He pulls my hand away, looking at the bleeding wound. Blood oozes out of it, trickling down my face.

"What happened here," he mumbled under is breath, examining my cut, making sure it is just a shallow wound.

"Falling rock from the first basement level," I tell him, brushing some of the blood away. "Don't worry, the fifth level is fine."

He looks up at me, fear in his eyes. "Why didn't you stay down there?" He asks, shaking my shoulders.

"I saw you in such a hurry to find me, I didn't think," I tell him, my breaths finally beginning to even out. "I just thought that meeting you would be much easier."

He's about to say something, but he stops himself. He lets go of me, taking a deep breath. "Okay, okay," he says, looking at me.

"Why _are_ you worried about me, anyway?" I ask.

"Oh right, forgot about that." He says, rubbing his face briefly. "I didn't just come see you to tell you that you needed to be underground, I actually came to inform you that you're needed in Hong Kong."

"More tests?" I ask, suddenly feeling exhausted. I thought they said that my last test would be on the other side of Australia. I don't need any more of those.

"No," Herc says. "The Marshal needs you in the Hong Kong Shatterdome, fighting in the last stand."

I shake my head, breaking from his grip without even thinking about the offer. "I'm not going to pilot another Jaeger," I tell him. "I was connected to my cousin when he died, I can't go through that, I can't have someone else see that memory."

Herc sighs. "They found and Mark IV Jaeger and found a way to change it into a Mark VI," he says, leaning closer to me and dropping his voice to a whisper. "A certain Mark IV you've had experience with. The Marshal thinks that having you back in her will make her the best she can be, since you've already rode in her. You'll get a partner with your exact skill set that you can work with just as well as you and Kaiden."

I stepped back from him, anger boiling in me. "No one will ever be as good as Kaiden with me in a Jaeger," I say, spitting the words out like poison.

"Calm down, Arianna," he says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I know you don't want to do this, but the world is coming to an end. Would you rather die here, doing nothing but waiting for it, or being in a Jaeger, trying to save it?"

I considered his offer, and in an hour, I was loaded up in a helicopter, Herc sitting next to me, leaving Sydney behind and heading towards Hong Kong.

**So that was the chapter. Tell me what you guys think, and I will have the next chapter as soon as I have a Marshal, a K-Science member, and four more Jaeger pilots.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Because I really wanted to post a chapter, I just decided I would fill in my own Marshal character. I also decided that since I haven't decided on a main, mostly because I still have maybe two people submitting, that I would include the Main's that have been submitted and use them as introductory characters, getting, briefly, to know them. By the way, for those who submitted mains, if I do not use your character with Arianna, I'm still going to use them in the story, just as secondary Jaeger characters, because that form was long and I don't want all of your time and creativity to go to waste. So anyway, I hope you guys like it.**

_I forgot the goddamn tablet._

That was my first thought after I had received stitches on my cheek and I boarded the helicopter. _I left it on my bed and it got crushed from the collapsing structure._

I wasn't so unhinged about it because the tablet was the closest thing I had to my parents, I could always re-route the comm link through a different platform. It's that once I do re-route it, I won't get any of the messages back. I didn't finish reading Raleigh's message before Herc urgently knocked on my door to alert me I needed to be underground. I couldn't just send Raleigh a message saying _Hey my original tablet got crushed under a falling building when a Kaiju struck Sydney, can you send it again?_

I thought about this briefly as we rode over the Pacific Ocean, we being Herc, Chuck, and myself. Even though Striker Eureka was decommissioned, they could still find work for the father-son team. Herc informed me that he was actually promoted to Marshal I congratulated him, as Marshal of the remaining bit of the PPDC was a big title. I think he said he would probably have Chuck as his right-hand-man, since almost no job other than being a Jaeger pilot would suit the kid, but he also said he might run him in a trial with other candidates to see if he could Drift with any of them.

In a few hours, at precisely eighteen hundred hours, we land at the Hong Kong Shatterdome. There are a few moments before we set down, but once we do, the stairs slide into place, and the door opens. Herc steps out into the rain first, followed by Chuck. I was out last, my bag slung across my shoulder. I ducked under the umbrella Chuck shared with me, and watched as Herc ducked under an umbrella with a very familiar, young girl. Dark blond hair that looked like it reached about 10 centimeters below her shoulders that was braided, beads on the left side, and pulled into a tight bun, she was 5 feet tall, 7-8 inches. Her skin was slightly tanned, and she had four birds flying down from her right eye, covering up what looks like a scar. I knew this girl. I had spoken to her before. She looks at me, clearly remembering me too. It isn't until Herc speaks that her name pops into my mind.

"Miss Dark, this is Jacklena-Alexandra Mason, a bright pilot," he says, making me smile as I remember speaking to her a few years ago when she first became a Jaeger pilot. "She used to pilot the Jaeger Eye Of The Strom. She recently told us she knew you, so we asked her if she would analyze you and personally hand-pick your co-pilot candidates."

_Co-pilot candidates? _I think to myself. _He never mentioned that. He was there when Kaiden and I discovered we were Drift Compatible, he knows that I can't be matched up with someone else. Yet, he still had poor Jack over here group together a bunch of rookies and will think that I can just be matched up with any one of them?_

Jack extends a hand to me, smiling lightly. "It's nice to speak with you again, Miss Dark," she says as I take her hand and shake it.

"As it is to you," I say quietly."

The four of us board the elevator, followed by a pretty girl who has harsh, criticizing eyes. She sports platinum blond hair that goes to her shoulders in light waves, with skin as pale as snow. She's about 5'8, very skinny, like me with my fast metabolism probably. Her eyes, the harsh look, are like ice. She reminds me of a children's movie that came out in December after the first Kaiju strike, which was about two sisters, one who had frost powers. I watch as she walks over to a tank filled with a Kaiju specimen, mumbling _I don't have time to wait on her _under her in Russian.

Curiously, I ask, "кто у вас нет времени, чтобы ждать наbreath?" Or, _Who do you not have time to wait on?_

She sends me a glare, but takes a double take, looking at me longer the second time. "Arianna Dark," she says in a thick Russian accent. "Your reputation pursues you. 11 Kaiju kills in the Mark IV Jaeger Fallen Angel, and the second pilot ever to be able to pilot a Jaeger back to shore on your own, after your co-pilot Kaiden Lenko was killed by the Category-"

"Shut up, will you!" I say, sending a sharp look her way. "I'm sorry, but he was the last family member I had, and I don't need you bringing up his goddamned death."

The entire elevator is silent, besides her light mumblings in Russian about the specimen she's examining. Herc finally clears his throat. "Miss Dark, this is a member of our Research team, Doctor Anastasia Ivanna Daroyev."

"Call me Ana," she says as the elevator comes to a stop, and we leave the Russian alone in the metal craft.

After the door closed, I called to Herc, "So that's a part of your research division?"

"Things have changed," Chuck says to me, walking over to a code panel and sliding it open. Jack swatted his hand away before he could enter the doors code, and he looked sad about it. Maybe he wanted to open it because Jack always had, I don't know.

"We're not any army anymore, Miss Dark," Herc says from next to me. The doors begin to slide open, revealing the large Jaeger storage complex. "We're the resistance."

The doors fully open, and Herc extends his arm, as saying if _You first. _"Welcome to the Shatterdome."

The two large doors were basically an invitation and a heads-up as to what you would see when you entered the Jaeger Hanger. The ceiling was 500 feet tall at its peak. Five bays spread out from the main circular room, each one housing a Jaeger. As I stepped into the large room, I looked around at the last operational Shatterdome. Now I knew why Herc was so tired, being the Marshal of Earths last fighting hope must keep him awake all night.

I turned, looking at the old flip clock that was on the wall above the doors. Before I could ask about it, Chuck spoke up. "War clock," the young Aussie said, walking past me along with Jack and his father. "We reset it after every Kaiju attack, keeps us all focused."

"The frequency of attacks must be increasing," I mumbled under my breath, looking as how, only fourteen hours ago, a Kaiju attacked Sydney. It took us fourteen hours to get out of that warzone and head up here; up north. "How long until the next reset?" I asked, calling to them as I jogged to catch up.

"A week, if we're lucky," Herc says, leading us towards an abandoned bay.

"Our experts believe there will be a Kaiju attack even before that," Jack said from in between the father-son used-to-be pilot team.

_Wow, _I thought, _a whole week to alert all of the Pan Pacific cities, try to relocate civilians, and get a Jaeger prepped._

Herc went on, telling me how the Jaeger complex used to launch thirty Jaegers in five bays, multiple Shatterdomes just like this one across the land. I told him I wasn't expecting it to be that bad, and he informed me it has been like this, ever since I discovered from my father that they were moving the funds from the Jaeger program. _So they're monitoring my messages now? _

"Omega Quartz," Herc says as we pass a Mark IV Jaeger, standing along in its bay. "One of our best. It was piloted by Marcus Thompson-Whiteside and Luke Tyler before Tyler decided he would retire to be with his newborn son. Sadly, Luke Tyler was killed in a Kaiju attack trying to get back to his son. Now, we're still in the process of finding Marcus a new co-pilot."

We cross over to the bay, where a 6'3 man with golden brown skin stands. He is looking up at his Jaeger when Herc calls out to him. Turning, I see his eyes are an interesting yet strange mix of gold and copper. His short, straight hair looks to be black, but when the light glints off of it, I notice it's a very, very dark brown. He has a light smile, friendly, almost, but there's something in his eyes that reflects pain, regret. His grey t-shirt clings to him lightly with sweat, or rain, considering it's pouring outside. I see a scar peaking out from under the collar of his shirt, on his right collarbone, going in a slanted pattern. I wondered where it ended, and I had to stop the train of inappropriate thoughts before they started when I saw the rough lines of his ripped abdomen. There was also the bottom of a very intricate, colored spiral galaxy under the sleeve on his right arm. There were names written in decorative handwriting that I couldn't read from a distance. Overall, he was gorgeous, but why would a pilot like him, who was never grounded and decommissioned, would want to know a pilot like me, who was grounded, decommissioned, and was responsible for two other pilot deaths?

"Marshal Hansen," he said as we neared him. He had a small rag in his left hand that he blots at his forehead briefly, wiping the sweat or rain off of it that also made his shirt stick to him. "It's good to see you made it out of Sydney alright."

I watch silently as Marcus salutes to Herc, but the Marshal waves it off. Of course Marcus would be formal and respectful to his commanding officer, and it doesn't surprise me that the newly accommodated Marshal would wave off the formality. Marcus rests his right arm at his side, and Herc turns to face the two of us equally.

"Marcus, this is Arianna Dark," he says, introducing me to the pilot. "You were privileged to read her file, and I believe you've road together before."

Marcus' smile widens a bit more when he turns to me, extending his right hand. I watch as the sleeve rolls up a bit more, revealing more of the galaxy. I nod politely, smile lightly, and shake his hand as he begins speaking. "I was, and I was eagerly awaiting her arrival. After the attack on Sydney, I wasn't sure if I would actually get to meet her," Marcus says, a little more directed at Herc than at me. I didn't know whether to be offended by the fact that he's acting like I'm invisible, or flattered that he wanted me here and alive. "She seems to be an excellent addition to our team." 

"I think I can disagree on that," I said to him, our hands still surprisingly connected. I thought he would have dropped them after the handshake. I take a step back, and look down at the floor. _That was odd, why didn't he drop my hand?_

"What do you mean, Miss Dark?" Marcus asks me, a puzzled look spreading across his face in a matter of seconds, filling his golden-copper eyes with confusion. "From your record streak of kills in Fallen Angel with Ranger Kaiden Lenko, and your excellence inside the Drift and piloting the Jaeger, you have a golden reputation that can quite possibly help us win this war."

I was stunned. For one, my lousy kill record was nothing to be bragging about. Two, I got Kaiden killed by not being on edge enough. Three, isn't it a little odd that he can ramble off sensitive information about me like that? And here I thought that only K-Science members could do that without fail. Sure, little Jack standing next to me can probably do it, but she was given the task of studying me, learning everything about my cocky personality along with my strengths and weaknesses inside Fallen Angel, quite possibly also looking at the flaws I had with my cousin. Jack was assigned to do that. Herc only said that Marcus was privileged to look at my file, it makes me wonder how many nights he spent studying it if he can ramble off a few sentences.

"I got my copilot killed because I disobeyed a direct order," I tell Marcus, leaning slightly back on my heels, crossing my arms over my chest in a cocky manner. I know he meant it as a compliment, but I don't need him going around and thinking that I'm 'an excellent pilot' and 'vital to our mission.' He needs to know the truth. "I got two pilots killed that day, and I got another pilot emotionally damaged to where he can't even come back and _try _to pilot again," I tell Marcus, leaning a little more closer to him now. "Go ahead, try to tell me how great of a pilot I am. I know in the back of my mind I will never be good enough without Kaiden in that left hemisphere rig next to me."

Marcus sets an arm lightly on my shoulder. "Arianna," he says, looking me in the eyes. "My copilot was also killed by a Kaiju, I know the bearing." He glances at Herc over my shoulder and looks back down at me. "You shouldn't blame yourself for Ranger Lenko's death, because you're not the one who tossed him into the ocean."

"He was there, Marcus," I say, my words carrying little to no venom, unusual of me. "He was ripped straight out of my mind and killed before I could say goodbye."

I shrug his arm off of me, as if saying, _Thanks for trying to comfort me, but I don't need the extra comfort. _I wish I hadn't, it was nice having him trying to tell me it wasn't my fault. "Try having Ranger Tyler die that way."

A shadow of grief and loneliness crossed his face, and I felt his hand lightly brush my wrist. "I don't even want to imagine that," he whispers lightly, so light that the Hansen's and Jack are whispering amongst themselves, trying to figure out what he said to me.

I give an, _I'm sorry _look to Marcus before he turns to the Marshal. The two exchange a quick conversation about Marcus' copilot trials tomorrow. When they're finished, we leave behind the pilot and his quartz colored Jaeger as we head to the next.

We made our way over to the next bay, where a large black Jaeger stood, with lethal looking weapons on it's back. I noticed down on the floor, there were three pilots. There was a male and a female playing baseball on the ground, while a young girl was sitting on the foot of the Jaeger, using a large wrench to fix a screw the size of my fist on the machine's "ankle." The man had short chocolate brow hair with electric blue eyes and tanned skin. He was taller than Marcus, 6'4 at the least. His muscles lined his tight shirt, and I watched as he threw a baseball in the general direction of the small, 5'5 girl with long, straight, glossy black hair that was pulled into a tight ponytail. Her large, almond shaped, deep chocolate eyes focused on the flying ball, and she swung her bat just in time, connecting the wood with the faux leather ball.

I realized I should have moved when it was too late. The way she hit the ball sent it in my direction, and just as I was about to move, it hit me smack-dab in my forehead. Blinding white-hot pain rushed through me as my legs gave out and I dropped to my knees, one hand on the floor to steady me, the other clutching the forming lump above my left eye.

Something was slick under my hand. At first I thought it was sweat, but when I pulled my hand away, I realized that baseball had broken the skin on my forehead. Herc called for a medic, and I watched out of the corner of my eye as the would-have-been MLB players came running towards me.

"Oh my god! I'm so, so sorry!" I heard coming from the girl who hit the ball. She had a medium Chinese accent, not too thick, but also not too thin. I couldn't describe it with the pain in my head. The boy was right on her toes, an apology already on his lips before I raised a hand, telling him silently that he didn't need to apologize, that I was fine. "Are you okay?" The female voice came again.

Before I could say anything, a medic was at my side and pressing an icepack onto the wound. "She's going to need stiches," the young male had said, removing the icepack from my bleeding forehead. "Try to hold very still."

He wrenched open his first aid kit and ran an antiseptic wipe across my forehead. I sat on the floor patiently as he put the stitches in my forehead and applied a pain-reducing residue to it. I thanked him afterwards, and turned back to the MLB players.

"Again, I'm very sorry about that," the girl said, regret filling her dark eyes.

"It's okay, I understand," I told her, smiling lightly. "After the harsh greeting I just had with Marcus," jerking my thumb in his direction, "I deserved a good, hard hit to the head."

She chuckled and smiled at me. "Miss Dark, this is Rangers Mai Jiya Ling and Daniel Christopher Carter," Herc tells me. I shake Mai's hand first, a smile still on her face, and then Daniel's.

"Are you two co-pilots?" I ask, looking back at the Jaeger who stands above us.

"Oh no," Daniel says to me with a thick, Australian accent. "I'm piloting Night Whisper here with her," he points to the small girl working away at the Jaeger. I notice the headphones shoved into her ears, and realize why she didn't come to see what the big mess was about. "Emma Blake Sutton, my 19-year-old copilot who, in my opinion, is a little too young to be piloting." Luckily for us, Emma was too busy in her own music that she didn't hear us. Daniel glanced quickly at her before turning back to us. "You should be at least twenty before you get in one of these large machines."

Jack steps forward, an annoyed and slightly irritated look on her face. "Seriously, Danny?" She says, giving him a jokingly disproval look. "I first Drifted _and _piloted a Jaeger briefly when I was fifteen with my older sister, and a year after I enlisted, I was piloting 'Eye of the Storm' with Sam."

Daniel-no, Danny-laughed at that, looking at Jack. "No offense, Jackie, but look where that got you," he looks down at her, suggesting what the rest of us were probably thinking. Samuel Watson was a 23-year-old Australian with a history of protecting people. The two were a good team in the Jaeger, but they disagreed commonly. Sam was wiser, able to think things more thoroughly. Jack, being seventeen at the time, was just a teenager. She wanted the quickest possible way to get things done, to finish the mission, no matter the cost. The two would been seen when they weren't in a Jaeger fighting about their last run, or things they needed to do better next time. Sam seemed like he had enough after one kill. When Sam went on a holiday and never came back, rumors were spread around the PPDC that he was just tired of Jack and decided to stay with his family. Soon, the rumors were leaked and they had the press in on it, and poor Jack had to deal with the false-or true, we are still not sure-rumors and being on national television on her eighteenth birthday.

"I'm turning twenty in five months," she said in defense of herself. "It's not my fault Watson didn't like my way of thinking."

Mai looked up at Danny and turned back to us. "Anyway," Danny said, looking back at his Jaeger briefly. "As much as I would love to be piloting Night Whisper with little Mai here," I watched as he ruffled her hair playfully, her giggling and shoving him lightly as she attempted to fix her glossy hair. "We're not all that compatible. But, I still hope one day that I could Drift with her."

Mai smiled at him before turning back to me. "I'm also like Danny. I wish we could pilot together, but we're not compatible." She looks up at him, her eyes changing, as if she's looking at someone she loves. There was something about this small girl I personally felt determined to find, even if it kills me. "But, I will be apart of your candidate trials tomorrow, Miss Dark. I look forward to seeing if I can beat your ass or not."

I felt my smile widen at her cockiness. She smiled too, a laughing smile. I liked Mai, she seemed nice but able to take a joke. The two of us would get along pretty well. "Don't hold onto that," I told her, a joking but cocky tone in my voice. "My ass is pretty hard to beat, considering the amount of Kaiju's I've laid down on it."

She takes the bait, the challenge. "And that's why I'm pretty sure I can beat it," she says, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "I've laid a few down on my own."

_She used to be a pilot with someone. _I added that to my mental list of notes about this girl. Slowly, I would figure her out. For now, I'm trying to get her to understand me. "And while you may have Kaiju kill record on me, I've got height on you."

The two of us laughed before we could go on. She clearly understood that I had been given the same amount of insults and perks against the other as she had been given. It was stupid, the way humans acted. We act like we need someone else to depend on us, and that it's wrong if we treat someone in a disrespectful manner. Yet, when we feel a certain hate for someone else, we use the same ignorant insults against them as most people would, and we always try to figure out what we have that they don't in a fight. It amuses me when people try to use the same insults I've heard over and over against me, like if they call me a mean name I will break down, cry, and worship them for being disrespectful. They didn't realize that I was stronger than that, that those people were not my dictator. They couldn't control me. Mai knew this, and I slowly began to realize that she knew I knew it too.

Daniel tells me to come find them tomorrow morning at breakfast in the Mess Hall, probably so we can get to know each other a little more than a quick greeting. I say goodbye to them, and they both apologize again for hitting me with a baseball. If it wasn't for the constant throbbing of pain my forehead was giving off, I would have forgotten about how we had met. As we leave, heading to the next Jaeger, I notice Emma pull out her headphones and watch as we walk away.

Crossing our to the next Jaeger and having to break up a fight between two technicians, we head to the next Jaeger. "Eastern Sentinel," Herc says as we approach the large, green and white Jaeger. "It was the Iron Tempest before we gave her a few tweaks." As we walk closer, I notice that there are no pilots around, just technicians scurrying around and attempting to finish their work on the Mark III Jaeger. "It's piloted by Thane Kelper and-"

He cuts off mid-sentence, realizing that the two pilots were not with their Jaeger, like they should be. "… And they're not here," he says, turning to a technician. "Stanley!" A teenager flips up his visor and looks down at us from up in his place at the Jaeger's thigh. "Where are the pilots?"

"They are looking for you, said they would head to LOCCENT and meet you there," the boy, Stanley, called back. "Is there something else I can help you with, sir?"

"Carry on!" Herc told him. He nodded, flipped his visor down, and turned his blowtorch back on.

"We'll resume this tour once you meet these next two pilots," Herc says, leading me back to LOCCENT Command. I have only walked these halls once. I was stationed in Hong Kong for a day, being relocated back to America after a night here. I only climbed the stairs that lead to the control room once, and that was on an important case where I was running and skipping two stairs for every one stair I used. Now, I was walking slowly up each rusting metal stair, listening to the _creak _of a few of them as I followed Herc, Jack and Chuck behind us.

Herc told me to wait outside, but I got a small glimpse on the inside. It had much more systems than the last time I was here. I guess turning into the last operational Shatterdome meant they needed as much electronic equipment as they could get. I also noticed that there was only one pilot standing there, alone as he waited for the Marshal to approach. I heard him ask, "Where's your copilot?" Before being drowned out by others talking.

I stood in a small semi-circle, more like a triangle, with Chuck and Jack. We talked quietly amongst ourselves, about other pilots, our views on my candidate trials tomorrow, and a few other things. I was laughing lightly at a joke that Jack made when I felt a light tap on my shoulder. "Arianna Dark," came a soft, female voice from behind me.

I turned, seeing a girl who was, like basically every other girl in this place, 5'5 and a 1/2, I think. She had strawberry blond hair, with lowlights in a few places that made those areas look brown. Her hair reached her mid-back, and it had a few long layers that gave it a full, slightly messy look. She had 4 small cornrows that were above her right ear, giving it a faux shaved look to that area. The cornrows went a bit past her ear and then turned into regular tiny braids. Bangs fell down and inch past her chin, and they fell into her blue-grey hazel eyes with a ring of amber around the middle. I watched as her left hand drew up, a small scar across her knuckle, and I could see tattoo writing on the inside of her forearm as she brushed the bangs away. "I'm sorry to interrupt," a New Zealand accent. "My name is Christina May Carter, but most people just call me Chris. I'm the runner here for the pilots, technicians, scientists, you name it."

"It's nice to meet you, Chris," I say, shaking her hand lightly.

"I've heard you're going to be the new pilot of Fallen Angel," Chris says, a light bit of suspicion in her voice.

"Well, I've always been her pilot," I say, dragging the back of my hand across my forehead, wiping away the sweat that collected there from today. "But yeah, I guess I'll be the new pilot, considering she's been made into a new Jaeger."

Chris smiles, seeming happy. "As the runner, I got to go in and see Fallen Angel a few times as she was under the process of her transformation. I can't wait to see her in the line of duty."

"She's an incredible Jaeger," I tell her, thinking back to some of the kills I had with Angel and Kaiden. "I'm just not sure I'll be the same with a different pilot."

"I'm certain that no matter who is in there with you," Chris says, looking at me like she was actually certain of what she was saying. "You two will be incredible together."

I smile, looking down at my feet briefly. "Is there anything I can do for you, Chris, or did you just want to introduce yourself?"

"Oh!" She says, flipping her head to get the bangs out of her eyes. "A little bit of both, actually. I'm here to inform you that Candidate trials will be at 0600 tomorrow, and you will receive a package at your room door in the morning. Also, whenever Jack is ready, you may see Fallen Angel."

Herc steps out of LOCCENT, a young man at his side who Chris looks at. I notice the way she's looking at him, and I see the silver band with the single diamond around it. The two are engaged. I would think that they were married, except married couples usually have the same last name, and these two didn't. "If you need anything, Arianna, let me know," she says before walking away with the pilot, I think his name was Thane.

Herc walks back over to our group. "We'll have to finish this tour another time. Things have sprung up that I need to attend to," he says, glancing at all three of us. "Jack, show her to her Jaeger and room. Chuck, follow me."

Before I know it, I'm in another part of the Shatterdome, listening to Jack tell me that Fallen Angel was right in front of me.

It was like seeing an old friend who you missed dearly, or having a loved one return from something you never thought they would come back from. I felt joy and longing as I saw the black with white accents Jaeger. Fallen Angel had literally become an 'angel' when they rebuilt her. She used to just have plasma cannons, dual, double bladed swords, and only a digital operating system. Now, I could see clearly the nuclear core and the wings that peaked out from the sides of her back.

Jack informed me about the upgrades, how the Mark VI needed two cores to sustain everything. She said it was like having a second brain. The wings I had seen were fully operational. When I asked how that worked, she told me that we couldn't take off with them like bird wings. They were designed more like a flying squirrels wings, meant to glide instead of fly. Apparently, the person on the left hemisphere controlled the right wing and the left arm, while the person on the right hemisphere controlled the left wing and the right arm. I took careful note at this, because it seemed like I could use it at one point.

I was shown to my room, and Jack left before I could ask her about what she had been doing since she wasn't piloting anymore. Of all the things I could salvage from the building, I was able to salvage a stack of pictures I found in the rubble. Carefully, I hung those up in the space above my desk/countertop. The dog tags underneath my shirt clicked together as I moved. I slipped a hand around them, pulling them out. The first one on the chain was mine, giving my name, date of birth, Ranger ID, Marshal, and my blood type. The next one was one of Kaiden's tags. His dog tags were the only thing they could salvage when they briefly combed the sea for his body. I glanced over them carefully, comparing the two. I remember receiving these tags with him, watching him pull them on. I turned, looking at the picture of us after our first Kaiju kill. I was practically glowing with happiness, my smile wide. Kaiden looked just as happy, so different than the fear and pain that was what he reflected the last time I saw him.

Then and there, I understood why I felt a pang of longing when I saw Fallen Angel. The last time I had been in her, I lost Kaiden. That grief followed me everywhere, and hit me most in the places I had been with him. I connected with him many, many times in Fallen Angel. Now, the grief was fresh, like striking a match and lighting a fresh new candle on fire. I felt that fire burn bright in me, devouring and consuming me with every second that ticked by. When I stripped myself of my clothes and got in the shower, the tears overwhelmed me, and I cried in the warmish rain, the salty tears mingling with the fresh water, and when the water ran cold, it reminded me of how I felt that day, the cold air and rain numbing me, the pain and sadness destroying me, and the longing suddenly devouring me.

**So I hoped you guys liked that. Next chapter I should have the candidate trials going, along with when the K-Scientists meet with the Marshal. I have two people still submitting characters, one submitting a main, which I need as soon as they can possibly get to me, and one submitting a K-Science member, which I also need as soon as you two can possibly get them to me. I'm sorry it took so long for me to update, I've moved into a Condo in San Diego that I will be staying in until October, because I'm going to E3 in Los Angeles and Comic Con here this summer. Hopefully, since I've got everything set up, I will be able to post some more chapters for my other stories.**


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